The Goldwater Reporting On the Summit: Singapore To Be a “Smart Nation”

While we await two of the most powerful leaders in the world to meet face to face tomorrow, The Goldwater’s Major James Burdock and Philip Fairbanks are continuing their live coverage via YouTube Streaming and Skype.

Wow, very beautiful photos. Major Braddock and Philip, I am certain you are both enjoying this visit immensely.

One interesting fact about Singapore is that they are aiming to be the world's first Smart Nation.

What does that actually entail?

Smart Nation is about transforming Singapore through technology. Singapore envisions a Smart Nation that is a leading economy powered by digital innovation, and a world-class city with a Government that gives their citizens the best home possible and responds to their different and changing needs.

Singapore is an island city-state just 30 miles across that has been governed by the same party for decades.

The Smart Nation initiative looks to turn the island into a "living laboratory"; a kind of playground for testing smart solutions to urban issues. Part of that plan is a network of sensors placed across the island that officials hope can solve the fundamental issues of Singapore's high-density living.

Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, the country's minister for foreign affairs and Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative, spelled out how he believes the program will transform Singapore.

"There is much political angst about inequality and middle-class stagnation in developed economies," he said. "This has been accompanied by loud, populist and ultimately futile arguments about yesterday's ideology and politics. … In Singapore, we know that new technology trumps politics as usual."

What Dr. Balakrishnan is alluding to is that, rather than being about talk, Smart Nation is about action. It's pushing forward with trials across many sectors, focusing on "areas with high impact on residents and citizens." That means housing, health, and transport.

Imagine waiting for the bus on your way to work and it turns out you're late. Enter Singapore's Smart Nation solution.

Smart Nation aims to merge technology into every aspect of life on the small island.

That includes bus stops along the way, which under this plan will have interactive maps and wi-fi connectivity. It will even include e-books and a swing. This is all to make the journeys of Singapore's commuters more enjoyable and efficient.

With almost four million daily bus rides, the bus network makes up the most significant part of Singapore's transport network.

It is an approach being replicated across all sectors - transport, homes, offices, and hospitals.

The KK Women's and Children's Hospital is one of the biggest and busiest in Singapore. On any day, it sees Many patients - mainly pregnant women or moms with their kids. It began trialing video conferencing for its patients in non-emergency cases in November last year.

Gladys Soo is one such mom. Her seven-year-old son suffers from eczema and she started treatment for him in February.

"We went to the hospital in person for the first consultation to check for his eczema," she said. "The follow-up was done via video conferencing."

Mrs. Soo said the fact that she is a working mom was a factor in her decision to go for the video-conferencing option.

"It saves you time - I don't have to travel, I don't have to take leave. The pharmacist can actually view my son's eczema on the video conference. And he can diagnose whether it is getting better - it is like being with him in person."

Speech therapy, lactation consultation services, and pediatric home care services are other aspects of medical care that KKH is using video conferencing to address.

The government has committed to releasing more government data "in a machine-readable format" while "streamlining approval processes" so that public and third-party developers can access the relevant APIs faster.

This approval system will be key. Businesses will obviously be approaching the data with an eye on profits, and deciding which companies can access what data will require a firm understanding of all the industries involved.

"It's likely that at some point the parties involved, government, the private sector and hopefully citizens, need to have a dialogue about defining the parameters of a win-win situation," said a business owner.

"[One] where private-citizen data is used to create schemes that result in economic good as well as a proportional growth in the average citizen's quality of life."

For Singaporeans, it's all a question of, how much private data do you want to hand over in the name of economic growth and convenience?